Improvement in operating drills



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EBENEZER G. LAMSON, OF SHELB URNE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 68,888, dated ,S' temher 17, 1867. i

IMPROVEMENT IN orcnrrine DRILLS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, EBEanzER G. Lenses, of Shelburne Falls, in the county of Franklin, in the State of Massachusetts have invented a new and im )rcved mode of O )eratin" Drills or other tools of a stone-cuttin a l l a a channelling, quarrying, stamping, hammering, or tunnelling machine, which I design as an improvement to my invention of a stone-cutting machine, for which Letters Patent were issued to me, dated October 2, 1866, and numbered 58,435; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction thereof, and the manner of its operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

Figure 1 is an isometrical front view of themacliinc constructed for the purpose, and showing theinvention embraced therein.

Figure 2 is the same showing the drillsswung out longitudinally for the purpose of operating on rock whose surface is in another plane from that on which the machine stands.

Figure 3 is a side view of the machine, showing the drills swung out laterally for the same purpose as in. fig. 2, when the rock to be operated upon lies in another direction.

Figure 4 shows the three clamps detached and their mechanisms forconfining the drills in gangs.

Figure 5 shows the cylinders without gang and swinging devices, indicating by dotted lines the piston-' heads and their respective rods, the rod F being attachedto the eccentric, and the rods 1) and D being for the purpose of attaching either a gang or a single drill, for the purpose of gaddiug or otherwise as the casemay require.

Figure 6 shows cutting edges of the gang. i

Similar letters of i'eference, where they occur in diii'erent figures, indicate like parts of the machine in all the drawings; the rod D being to be used as an attachment or as a single drill, as shown in H.

When, by operating machinery, I drive a drill or other heavy cutting, breaking, or abrading instrument against rock with suflicient force and velocity to work away the stone rapidly, the blows delivered produce tremendous concussion or jarring, which, in the absence of an elastic or flexible instrument intervening between the driving and striking mechanisms, soon shakes the operating machinery to pieces, and renders it inoperative and useless. In the present invention I propose to remedy .this mischief by interposing these between such an instrument that at the instant the striking machinery delivers a blow, at that very. same instant the driving machinery shall be isolated or practicallly disconnected th'erefrom. This will, of course, prevent the concussion communicating from the one to the other.

In my aforesaid former invention I interposed for this purpose a bow-spring of steel. Inow propose to make an improvement on the character of this interposing spring; and my present improvement consists in using the elasticity of air, as and for this interposing spring, in lieu of the elasticity or flexibility of metal. I

To enable others skilled in the art to'make and use my invention, I will proceed to deseribeits construction and operation.

By means of and between piston-heads p and cry and p, packed air-tight, I confine the stratum of air.

A, fig. 5, so that when, by cam-crank, crank-wheel, piston-rod'direct, or by other familiar forms of machinery,

I push the head forward I compress the stratum of air A, which, compressing, drives thepiston-head 12" or p forward, and when I reverse the motion and d:awp backward I rarefy or create a partial vacuum in A, and the pressure of the atmosphere on the outside acting freely against the opposite side of p or 19' forces the same back to its original position. It is thus that I create the reciprocal motion of the striking machinery. When I operate with 42 1. lock n", and nice verse, and. I operate the one or the other, or both, according to the direction in which I wish to deliver the blows. At every stroke of the piston it will be seen by inspection that the air in A is alternately compressed and rarefied in its relation to the weight or dcnsity of the outside atmosphere. During one half of the time, therefore, or while the air in A is in a state ofrarcfaction, the driving and the striking machinery are practically disconnected from each other by the intervening distance between i and p or p". So I adjust my machinery and operate it with such velocity as to insure the delivery of th blows during the time of this disconnection, thereby entirely relieving the machinery from concussion as afore said. Moreover, as the cylinders inside must, of course, correspond with the diameters of the piston-head cases 2 respectively, I make these same piston-heads of different measurements, which measurements vary according as I wish to secure the desired momentum or force of the blows struck and the rapidity of delivering them; for by inspection it will be seen that the less the diameter of or p the longer must be the stroke in the cylinders in which they play, and the longer the stroke in a given time the greater will be their respective velocity, and consequently the greater their momentum or heavier the blow struck. Hence by regulating the speed of the driving machinery, and by varying the respective diameters of the piston-heads, I am able-to regulate my'blows and to give them any desirable rapidity and force. And since I have one-half of the time of each revolution. of l the driving machinery wherein to deliver blows without danger from concussion, I have not the slightest difiiculty to make the requisite adjustment for speed over so great and for blows over so hoavy-principles of incalcnlable value in applying machinery for tunnelling and otherwise working in and on stone. Hitherto all machines for such purposes have been restricted to low speed and light blows for want of suitable devices wherewith to prevent breaking; and, further, machines for tunnelling and quarrying purposes especially must be able to work in and on rock the plane of whose surface is other than that on which the machine stands; and particularlyfor tunnelling, the machine must be able to strike in evcry direction, laterally, longitudinally, up and down. The layers of marble andof grindstoneo'ock are not ordinarily horizontal, and are frequently so inclined that it would not be possible for a grooving or gadding-machine to stand upon their surfaces, while it is required to out these layers at right angles. My invention, therefore, further enables me to swing the striking machiriery at any angle longitudinally, as seen in fig. 2, or I can swing it laterally, as seen in fig. 3, and out under or obliquely, as the case may require.

For the longitudinal swing I hang the whole striking mechanism on the shaft of the eccentric X, and by means of the groove V, described as an are on the centre of the shaft of eccentric X, I am able, by the screwbolt B and nut N, to fasten it at any desired angle; the head of bolt 13 playing in the groove V. S S, in fig. 1, shows the axis for swinging out laterally the striking machinery for side or under cuts, and for the purpose of cutting grooves which shall be parallel to the longitudinal feed movement of the machine attached to my stonecutting machine, and fed forward. and backward on the track, according to my invention patented in No. 58,435. T T, in fig. 1, shows the axis of the joint at the upper end of the rod of piston-head p to contribute to this same lateral swing, while G G, in fig. 3, show the heads of the guide-pins for this same purpose. One of the guidoslots 0, in which G plays, may be seen in fig. 3. E and F show hose and pipe respectively. And for still greater variety in cutting in different directions I attach the arm M to the cylinder C, and by means of the screw and socket, at W and 1 I attach cylinder C, which holds 1), and so am able to operate a single drill, H, for gadding, blasting, and otherwise, and I may screw in either a hose or pipe, E or F, and work the drill at the end thereof, when required to operate it at a distance from the machine. It is evident that the number of such arms which may be so attached ahd operated at the same time is only limited by the capacity of the cylinder. The joint W may also be used as an air or pit-cock to regulate the quantity of air contained in the stratum A, or for this same purpose I may use the stopcock K, designed. also to regulate or to stop the gadder H, which gaddcr, in operation, may be rotated by the free action of hose, or by screw-joint W, or by other familiar rotating appliance in the hand of the operator or otherwise; and I may use, for the purpose of making the vacuum in A more perfect in reversing the movement of p, a self-acting check-valve opening outward near the .terminus of the stroke forward of the piston 11, in order for the escape of the compressed air as soon as p passes by the same, but closing by outward pressure of atmosphere, whenever]; begins its reverse movement. and I may use a similar valve opening inward upon the orifice 'of the pipe Ff where it enters C, and so confine a stratum of air between said valve. and p" as an air-cushion, so called, to prevent 1) giving a blow when forced backward too forcibly, by atmospheric pressure, in. its reverse movement; and whenever such arrangement may be necessary for heavyIwork or otherwise, to perfect the same, I make an air communication between cylinder C and pipe F opening forward of the air-cushion, and behind said valve, but closing whenever 1)" passes the some, and remaining closed by the edge of piston 1) until 'the air through the said valve forces 1) forward beyond the opening into C of the said communication.

To hold drills in gangs, delivering blows with great force and rapidity, I must hold them in place with corresponding power. Myelamps, for this purpose, are seen in L, L, and L in fig. 1. L and L furnish also the grooves or guides for the reciprocating motion of the gang, while L" clasps the drills near the lower end of the same for the purpose of lioldii'ig'them firmly together. L and L are shown detached in fig. 4.. The two 1H outside drills are serrated on their respective outside edges to correspond with like serrations in the inside of 'M L and L, and are made to hold tightly by the set-screws It It ll. R, as seen in fig. 1, while (i d 11 (l (l d d d,'sccn in fig. 1, show heads of screws to hold the corresponding parts of the clamps respectively together, the parts thereof next to the heads of the screws being provided with elongated holes to accommodate the action of the set-screws. The clamp L is made whole at its top, thus inter-posing a positive prevention tothc drills being driven from their position by the recoil in delivering blows. I use shims topreserve appropriate lengths to the drills. The two outside drills may be made without cutting edges, and used merely as side clamps, with their serrations, if desired. These side drills, therefore, are made to pass through the upper clamp. The clamp L, serving to hold the drills together, is made in one piece, having one of it's inside edges serrated, while it is constructcd'to do its office work by means of two wedge-keys driven inversely to each other, the inside one being also serrated to correspond to the serrations of the outside drills, as aforesaid.

Drills for cutting channels should be so arranged that the edge of each particular one shall cut the rock independently of every other one, and should also bc-arrunged in pairs, one half cutting when the machinemoves forward, and the corresponding half cutting when it moves backward; my drills therefore are so arranged. I show six (6) in number, three cutting when the machine moves forward, and the corresponding three when moving backward. The edges of my two forward drills respectively cut longitudinally with the channels to preserve its width, the third ene transversely thereto to cut out the intermediate lauds. If, on account of the hardness of the rock, or the width of the channel, or otherwise, the third edge is not able to do its ofiice work fully I interpe se one or more to aid. The edges I bevel after the manner of framihgwhisels, the bevelled side being opposite to the rock to be cut, and the longitudinal cutting edges, when made perfect, are constructedon the line of the hypoth enusc of a right-angled triangle, wh-ose perpendicular may be measured by the distance that the chisels settle into the rock when struck, and whose base may be measured by the width of the chisel itself. This inclination, the lowest part thereof being behind when. the drills are operated, will necessitate, cutting the whole length of the edge.

When I drive the edges of drills into rock, and especially into grindstone-rock, the corners of the. edges are speedily ground 0d, and all the quicker in proportion as the channel is deeper, which channelis frequently required to be at the depth of some feet. The arrangement of the cutting edges of mydrills as aforesaid, does in part remedy the evil, as I thereby protect to a considerable extent thecorners of these cutting edges, they I coming in contact but very little if any with the sides of the channel out. New, in order to remedy this evil fully, and withal to sharpen the whole line of the cutting edge, I make still another conformation of these cut ting chisels, to wit, I construct the sides thereof opposite tothe bevel a little dishing, somewhat aftenthc manner of the upper edge of a grassscythc, so that the wear occasioned by rubbing against thegrindstone or other rock, when the drill is in operation,shall keep thb chisel sharp. I thereby obviate the necessity of,

removing the drills every few minutes to grind them, which, in the case of cutting grindstone-rock especially is such an inconvenience as hitherto to render machines for channelling it worthless.

v What I claim as my invention, and desire to obtain by Letters Patent, is-

1. The air-spring, substantially as and for the purpose described. 2. The device whereby I regulate at plea-sure the momentum of the blow struck, by regulating the speed of thedriving machinery, the greater the speed the harder the blow, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The device whereby I cause the piston-liead,-carrying the striking mechanism, to operate in a different direction from the piston-head attached to the driving mechanism, substantially as described.

4. The mechanism for swinging out the drills longitudinally, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The mechanism forv swinging out the drills laterally, substantially as and for the purposes described;

6. The mechanism for confining the drills in gangs, substantially as and for the purposes described,

7. The form and disposition of the cutting edges of therdrills, substantially as and for the purpose described.

EBENEZER G. LAMSON. 1

Witnesses: 2

J. B. Fannswonm,

R'oenn W. Loan. 

